


Deafening

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Abuse, Anxiety, Character Death, Drug Abuse, Drugs, Guns, Kidnapping, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Pre-Meeting, Violence, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-09-24 03:31:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9697727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: You know that feeling when life is really shitty and then it some how gets worse? Ray knew that feeling well.





	1. Silence

Life had never been easy. Shit happened and people just sucked. It really drained a person. Maybe that was why Ray was who he was. It was probably the reason he stayed in the home he was in and didn’t care that his father was addicted to every kind of drug in the world and how his father hardly acknowledged his existence unless it was to steal from him. Ray stayed because he didn’t give a fuck. As long as he had a roof over his head and a joint to light up, Ray didn’t care what his father did. Ray could pretend like he hadn’t seen his father murder his mom. Ray could live with himself for being such a coward.

That didn’t mean Ray didn’t have to work to earn his keep. No his father wouldn’t have let him stay if Ray didn’t bring him back something to keep him happy. That was how his father had turned him into a thief. Ray would find dealers and steal whatever he wanted off them. He was good at that. People saw him, a skinny, short Puerto Rican kid and didn’t think he would do anything. Well, maybe Ray wasn’t actually a kid. He was 19, but he had a bit of a baby face so no one thought he was a threat.

Ray used it to his advantage and it was the only reason he’d survived. When he went into clubs to steal things to survive, Ray didn’t even have a gun or a knife. If he got caught he was dead. That was the way the city worked. The cops wouldn’t give a shit if some no name kid turned up dead. It was a different city of scum from the police that wrote of his mom’s death, but it was the same deal. No one cared, so why would Ray?

Lighting up, Ray breathed in the weed and leaned against the wall of the alleyway. He wanted to get high before going home because he knew his father would be pissed that he hadn’t brought back anything for a couple days. Maybe Ray would just stay in this alleyway. The wall was comfortable enough. Ray was hungry though and he’d probably be able to eat some food at home before his dad smacked him around.

It was hard to push off the wall. Ray wanted to just stay there and avoid going home as long as he could, but he stood up straight anyway. He was just going to follow little back roads along to get back to his place so he hopefully wouldn’t run into anyone who’d try to take his weed from him.

Taking another drag from the joint in between his lips, Ray started walking further into the alley when a man sprinted past him, shoving into his shoulder and nearly knocking Ray over. Ray was about to flip the guy off when he saw another enter the alleyway from the other side, materializing out of the shadows. Normally that wouldn’t bother Ray, but the man who came from shadows had a skull mask covering his entire face. Oh, and a knife longer than Ray’s forearm and a pistol in his hands. Swallowing a yell, Ray pushed against the wall he’d been leaning on prior and tried to make himself look as small and unthreatening as he could. If he could have just disappeared, Ray would have, but he was worried that if he tried to run he’d get shot.

The man who had bumped into Ray was slowly backing away from Skull Mask and had his hands up. “I’ll give you whatever you want man, just don’t hurt me! I don’t know who you’re working for, but please man. I don’t want to die just leave me alone okay? I’ll give you money or drugs whatever you want.”

Skull Mask tilted his head and Ray wondered if he was considering it. His gun and knife were lowered, but Ray wouldn’t take his chances by running. The guy was probably a part of some gang and would be able to shoot Ray without a second thought. Ray just hoped Skull Mask would leave him out of this mess.

Unfortunately for Ray, the man being threatened wasn’t going to let Ray stay out of things. Maybe if Ray hadn’t been high as fuck he would have seen it coming, but from his perspective he was up against the wall one second and the next he was being held by the man as a human shield against Skull Mask. To top it all off, Ray had dropped his weed.

“I doubt you want some kid’s blood on your hands, Vagabond. I’ve heard you’ve got some kind of code. Drop your gun and I won’t hurt the kid,” the man growled from behind Ray. He had a tight grip on Ray’s hoodie and he could feel the knife on his neck press in a little tighter. A part of Ray wished that he could declare that he was 19, but it felt like his throat had seized up. It was a familiar feeling. He had trouble talking in stressful situations. So Ray stayed silent, holding his breath to try and avoid getting his neck cut on the blade. He couldn’t stop shaking though. Even if he got out of the alley alive one of these assholes were going to kill him to keep him silent. If only they knew.

The man started backing up, pulling Ray along with him. Ray figured they’d get out of the alley and away from Skull Mask and then Ray’s throat would get slit and that would be the end of his life. What a fucking horrible way to end his high. Just as they reached the end of the alleyway and Ray was sure the guy was going to make a run for it, a bam caused Ray to flinch, the knife creating a gash on his throat.

Looking down, Ray saw that his right shoulder was splattered with blood. His hands leapt to his throat as he let out a wheezy cry. There wasn’t enough blood coming from the small cut to explain the sticky mess on his shoulder and back. Glancing down, Ray could see a pool of blood creeping up to his feet and leapt away from it. The man who had grabbed him laid dead, a bullet wound through his head and causing a smattering of brain on the ground. Ray felt like he was going to be sick seeing it, but fear kept him from it. After all, Skull Mask was pointing the gun at him now.

Throwing his hands up, Ray made a few wheezing noises, trying to force words out of his mouth, but he couldn’t It felt like every core of his body was clenched and no matter how he tried he would never be able to speak. Standing frozen, Ray was positive this was his death. Some poor half drunk person would find his body in the alley and rifle through his pockets to steal whatever they could from his body and then a week later someone would complain about the smell and his body would get dumped in a river or some shit. His father wouldn’t come looking for him, Ray knew that much. Staring at skull in front of him, Ray prayed that the guy who used him as a shield was right and Skull Mask wouldn’t hurt him because he looked younger.

Skull Mask did some fast gesture with his hand after sheathing the knife, but Ray didn’t know what it was supposed to mean. After a moment Skull Mask’s head tilted at the body and then seemed to snap back up to Ray. There was a moment of silence before Ray relaxed a fraction. The gun had been holstered and maybe, just maybe Ray would make it out of this alive. Ray kept his hands up though, as Skull Mask approached him. Stepping out of the way, Ray watched as the masked man looked over the body. Skull Mask rifled through the dead man’s pockets for a moment before pulling out a flash drive and pocketing it. Ray thought that maybe he was in the clear.

Skull Mask turned around and stared at Ray for a moment, making Ray regret the thought instantly.

“If you tell anyone I will kill you,” Skull Mask threatened. His deep voice would have sounded nice if not for the threat.

Ray nodded his head quickly and made an okay signal with his hand. The masked man seemed satisfied with that as he turned and walked farther into the alleyway, once again disappearing from the shadows he had come from. As the man left Ray only had one thought.

_Getting the blood out of this hoodie is going to be a bitch._


	2. Shatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is pretty fucking scary when there's a man's blood on your favorite hoodie.

The next day greeted Ray with a splitting headache and a car alarm going off somewhere near the shitty apartment he and his dad lived near. If only he did have a gun. He would shoot whoever was letting their car beep this early in the fucking morning. Though that was weird… Ray remembered not being able to fall asleep after getting back. He felt like he’d been followed by Skull Mask and that he was going to come kill him at any moment. Ray already slept like shit so the added fear of getting murdered in his sleep had just made it impossible. Maybe he’d finally passed out sometime midday because looking around the room was dark despite his uncurtained window.

Flying up out of bed, Ray scrambled to get his pants on and to find a t shirt on his mess of a floor. He needed to go to see Joel. Ray vaguely remembered waking up part way through his sleep to his father stealing his stash which meant Ray needed to go get some more weed whether that meant stealing it or some shit. He also needed to see Joel for a more pressing matter. Ray wanted information on Skull Mask and just in case the man came looking for Ray, a gun to protect himself with. Hopefully Joel would be in a good mood and give a gun to Ray without ripping him off.

Shrugging on the t shirt, Ray glanced at his bloodstained hoodie and sighed. It would be weird to go out without it, but he also knew that they would never let him into the club with it. The club was really fucking sketchy, but sometimes the police would come by to ask questions. Ray wouldn’t want to get caught with a dead man’s blood on his clothes. Plus is was a front for his friend Joel’s gang and Ray didn’t want to show up asking for a favor covered in blood. Joel and the other two that were considered the leaders were really relaxed about things, but not that relaxed. Besides Ray had heard Joel talk about “Boss Burnie” being a “hardass” about image. Ray kind of got what Burnie was saying. Jeans and whatever stained t shirt was around kind of didn’t give the vibe of a big gang’s money man. That was part of why Ray liked Joel. He was chill and funny with his sarcastic angry humor.

It helped that Joel was a fantastic lay. Ray wasn’t one to turn down that. Not that he was doing anything with Joel other than fucking around. Joel never was one to settle down and shit, but Ray didn’t care. Ray was just trying to get through life without dying horribly in his own piss and shit.

Stepping up into the club, Ray found himself let in without a word. The bouncer knew him well enough since he normally went to that club to buy shit. If he was stealing he’d go to one not associated with Joel’s gang. Just a little bit of respect for all the shit Joel had helped him out with. Hopefully Joel would be in a helpful mood that day. Ray was hoping to get what he wanted and maybe to let Joel take him back to a room for a little bit. At least then Ray would be having fun and avoiding home. And keeping Skull Mask off his back.

Ray spotted Joel immediately. He stuck out when most of the people around him were half his age and he had that permanent scowl plastered to his face. He was sitting by the bar talking to the bar tender, who Ray had once been introduced to, Adam. Adam was nice to Ray and didn’t give him shit about not drinking like Joel did sometimes. As Ray walked over, he could see Adam point him out to Joel before grabbing out a coke and setting it on the counter next to the older man. Ray appreciated that.

Snatching up the coke and popping the top off, Ray leaned against the bar and looked at Joel and Adam with a slight smile. The smile vanished swiftly when Ray spotted a look shared between Joel and the taller man. Adam walked down to the other end of the bar to help someone else which left Ray to look at Joel with a questioning look.

“You shouldn’t be here. I would’ve texted you if you had bothered to accept the phone I tried to give you,” Joel growled at Ray.

A frown made its way to Ray’s face at that. “What’s going on?”

Joel shook his head and stood quickly. “Not here. Too many listening ears. Come on we’ll go up to the room and talk there. It’s safer.”

Taking the hand offered to him, Ray followed Joel into the back of the club and upstairs to where private rooms were held. Joel swiped a keycard at a door before opening it and revealing more stairs. These led to the actual apartments that laid above the club. Ray was pretty sure the one Joel always brought him to was his actual apartment. Reaching the familiar door and walking through as though he belonged there, Ray let go of Joel’s hand and gave him the same questioning look at earlier. Ray wanted to know what was going on. Joel was a nervous guy, but he seemed worse than Ray had ever seen.

“There’s some people coming after me and my gang. There’s a chance that you’ll also being targeted. You come to the club so much and somehow the people found out about your association with me. Coming here was really stupid Ray. They’ve got eyes on the club they’ll see you here and shit. I shouldn’t have brought you up here I should have just told you to leave and-“

“Joel take a breath,” Ray snapped. He was having trouble keeping up and the way Joel was freaking out, Ray was starting to lose his cool a bit. Someone being after him brought Skull Mask to mind and the memory of blood running down his back. The thick, hot blood just rolling in drops down until it turned cool. Just like the dead man Skull Mask had left in the alleyway. “I- I think I know what you’re talking about. That’s why I came here… to ask for a gun.”

Joel nodded and went to a different room, hopefully to look for a gun.

It gave a new air of seriousness to this. Ray had expected Joel to ask for something in return, like he always did. Joel was a man focused on money and the power it gave. He was the embodiment of “nothing is free.” If Joel was just looking for a gun to give Ray for free that meant something really was wrong. Ray’s life was in danger.

Standing frozen, Ray could feel the familiar feeling of his throat closing up and panic rising in his chest. He didn’t know how to fight. He barely even knew how to shoot a gun. Skull Mask was after him and Ray… Ray wouldn’t last through the night.

As Joel came back, Ray was clutching at his chest and squeezing his eyes shut tight, trying to push the panic back down and away from his thoughts. God he really wanted to smoke. Just to calm down a little bit. Ray felt hands on his shoulders and went to lash out, but stopped when he felt Joel’s lips on his forehead. It was grounding. A sensation to focus on instead of the panic and something to keep Ray out of his own terrifying thoughts. Looking up at Joel, Ray could see the depth in his eyes, the worry that lingered behind Joel’s eyes. Joel cared and it made Ray feel somehow safer.

Parting from Joel, Ray let out a shaky, “Thanks.”

Joel just handed Ray a brief case before saying, “I’ll show you how to put it together.”

Opening the case up, Ray’s eyes went wide, staring at the contents of the case. First off, it was bright fucking pink and then secondly, it was much more than the simple pistol Ray had expected to be given. Looking up at Joel, Ray shot him a confused look to which Joel just shrugged.

“This is all I’ve got. All the other guns are in the hands of our gang. We’re on high alert it’s just no one wanted to use this. Snipers normally want to blend in not stand out with this monstrosity. It’s all I’ve got, but you’re a good shot. I don’t have time to show you have to use it, but I’ll show you how to put it together and take it apart. Learn how to use it. You could even start working… you wouldn’t have to steal anymore and you could get your own place if you’re halfway decent,” Joel explained, taking the case from Ray and setting it on the table. He started pulling different pieces out and handing them to Ray, instructing him to screw it in and attach it there until Ray had a fully formed sniper rifle in his hands.

It was heavy, but Ray could almost feel the power under it. Lifting it up, Ray looked through the scope and was surprised how well he could see it. Lowering it, Ray looked over at Joel for a moment before looking down at the ground. He was worried. Something could happen to him or to Joel. Either would be wildly unpleasant.

Not looking up as Joel started moving, Ray could feel the other man plastering himself to Ray’s back, sliding his hands down Ray’s arms until he was helping Ray take the gun apart again. “I can’t leave the club. Burnie and Matt told me to stay in the building with guards to keep safe so I can’t take you to the range to show you how to use it. You’re a smart kid though I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Just watch the kick… It’s a lot stronger than the pistol I showed you.”

Ray nodded and asked quietly, “What do I owe you for it?”

“Nothing.” Joel replied, surprisingly.

Turning around and away from Joel’s arms, Ray stared at him for a moment before saying, “You were the guy who looked at me when I was begging for some food and told me “nothing in life comes free” what shit are you trying to pull here?”

A flash of guilt crossed Joel’s face. “Nothing, just being a good guy.”

“Joel.” Ray deadpanned, a stern look crossing his face.

“I already told you people are coming after you too. Because of you being around me. I told you when you first started doing me favors and you wanted in that I didn’t want to pull you into this life and… now you’re in it,” Joel explained.

Ray’s face softened suddenly. He knew Joel would never say it, but the gun was an apology of sorts. “Okay,” Ray muttered. Looking at Joel for a moment, Ray felt his heart lurch for the man. Sure, their relationship was really only a friends-with-benefits deal, but that didn’t mean that Ray didn’t care about Joel.

Leaning forward, Ray’s lips connected with Joel’s gently. Ray felt Joel kissing back and arms wrapping around his sides. Ray’s lips parted slightly in a happy sigh and he could feel Joel’s tongue licking at his lips to deepen the kiss when Ray pulled back slightly, a smirk on his face. He was always happy to get people riled up without any issues.

Joel kissed Ray again gently before whispering against his lips, “Why don’t we take this over to the bedr-“

The words were interrupted suddenly as the window suddenly shattered next to them. Ray’s gaze snapped to it, eyes wide. Looking back to Joel to ask what was going on, Ray saw a bloody wound on either side of his head, his mouth gapping. Dropping the body of his friend, Ray let out a scream, ducking down under the window, only just barely peering up above it.

All he saw out in the dark was a familiar Skull Mask disappearing into an alleyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I continued it... yay? Maybe? Who knows it'll be fun to find out. Things got even darker in this chapter which was lots of fun for me haha. 
> 
> Thoughts and/or critiques are happily welcomed. Have a nice day!


	3. Killer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray embraces a side of the city he hoped to never be a part of.

Getting out of the club and away from the people who were supposed to be guarding Joel was a blur to Ray. They asked him questions and accused him of killing Joel. He’d clammed up and not spoken at all, but eventually they’d let him go. Apparently Joel had told them about him and he was trusted to not do anything. Somehow the case with the dismantled sniper rifle had stayed with Ray and didn’t get taken from him. Ray was pretty sure someone even gave him a ride back to his apartment. It was all fuzzy in his mind.

He felt numb, that was the only thing Ray was sure about. The second Joel had dropped, Ray felt himself fade away. He didn’t even have any drugs. He couldn’t go to Joel for them and the idea of going outside terrified Ray. Skull Mask was still out there… Skull Mask who killed Joel. That was all Ray could think about. Over and over again. Joel dropping, the shot through the window, the glass shattered on the ground, Skull Mask running away, the feeling of something solid and terrible sticking in Ray’s gut, just begging to bubble up, but being shut out by the numbness. Ray didn’t know what he was supposed to do. All he had done for the past two days was lay in bed and not move. He just stared up at the ceiling, barely eating… barely existing.

Staring up at the ceiling, Ray heard a loud bang and his father shouting. There was some man with a few girls in the apartment, talking to Ray’s dad. It was probably for his dad to get more drugs. Ray didn’t really care. Loud giggling reached Ray’s ears and he sighed softly. Chances were his dad was probably going to pay one of the girls to do shit with him. It disgusted Ray sometimes. Not at that point though. Ray was too numb to give a fuck about it.

A few bangs sounded through the apartment and then some yelling. Letting his head fall to the side to peer at the wall the sounds were coming through, Ray found his eyes drifting to the case leaning against the wall. It was the case that held the sniper rifle. The sniper rifle that Joel gave him to protect him and to get out of his shit hole of a life. The sniper rifle Joel gave him right before dying. Right before Skull Mask killed him.

As soon as the thought crossed Ray’s mind, the solid mass that had settled in his stomach rose. The rage and anger of a lost friend started to bubble up inside of Ray just at the sight of the last thing Joel ever gave him. Life came back to Ray’s body as he felt the solid mass of hate and rage get caught in his throat. Leaping from the bed, Ray snatched up the sniper rifle case and his blood covered, purple hoodie. Ray was going to learn how to use the gift he was given. Ray was going to learn and use it.

He would avenge Joel’s death.

On the roof of his apartment, Ray put the rifle together quickly. As soon as it was placed back together, Ray lifted it up, relishing the heavy feeling of the gun. It felt like power. Looking through the scope, Ray was surprised at how far and how clearly he could see things. Picking up the ammo that had come with the case, Ray loaded it before peering through the scope again. Looking across the street, Ray spotted a scraggly looking tree and took aim.

The second Ray pulled the trigger he felt like he should have been knocked on his ass. Joel warned him the kick was strong, but Ray didn’t expect that. Steadying himself and trying to ignore the pain lingering in his shoulder after the shot, Ray looked through the scope at the tree and didn’t even see a bullet wound anywhere near it. Looking up and around to try and track where the bullet had gone, Ray found a bullet hole a little ways up on the building behind the small tree. Frowning, Ray looked at the kickstand on the sniper rifle and remembered that when he and Joel went to the range people shooting bigger guns like this would lay down. Ray thought Joel had explained it as having to do with the recoil of the gun.

Laying down on the ground, Ray set the gun on the lip of the roof, taking aim at the tree again. Taking in a deep breath, Ray tried to calm his trembling hands. The gun was powerful and it scared Ray a little to hold something like this… to know that he was intending to use it to take a life. But then Ray remembered the first time Joel showed him how to shoot a gun. Ray remembered him holding his shaky hands and telling him to breath in and out slower. Ray summoned the cold, hard rage inside of him, took another breath, and pulled the trigger.

There was a nice bullet hole through the center of the tree. It was a little off from where he had aimed, but much better than the first try. It gave Ray confidence. He would do this. He could do it and he would. Ray was confident in himself for once.

A little later, Ray found himself packing up the rifle. There were more bullet holes in the tree and Ray was glad that no one in this neighborhood cared about gunshots. He felt confident in his abilities to shoot it so he figured he would move to the next part of his plan, finding out where Skull Mask was and the best place to set up to shoot him.

Back into the apartment Ray went, albeit unwillingly. He didn’t want to listen to his dad and some other guy talking loudly. Ray didn’t want to deal with that shit, but where else was he going to go? Hanging at the club with Joel had been one of the few places Ray had to go and then knowing that Skull Mask was after him, Ray didn’t want to go anywhere. He kept checking over his shoulder and looking around. It didn’t seem like anyone was coming after him, but Ray wasn’t sure.

It was terrifying… being pulled into the world of violence like that. Up until then, Ray had stayed on the outskirts of it, but something changed the second Joel handed him the rifle. Ray changed and he still wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not.

\----------

The next day as left his apartment there was a yellow envelope on the floor with “Ray” written on it in bright pink lettering. Going back inside, Ray came out with a broomstick and jabbed the envelope from the partially closed door. Ray wouldn’t have been surprised if it was some kind of device to kill him. Skull Mask seemed to be the crafty type in Ray’s imagination of him.

When the envelope started ringing, Ray actually picked it up. Opening it, Ray found a simple phone inside it. Probably a burner phone, but looking at the ringing phone, Ray could see a contact had been programmed into it as the screen read “Burnie.” Burnie was Joel’s friend and, to put it nicely, “co-worker.”

Answering the phone, Ray asked, “How do you know where I live?”

A chuckle was Ray’s answer until a deep voice responded, “You were the last one to see Joel alive. I had to make sure you weren’t a part of whatever plot is going on to take us out. You’ve been getting followed for a while now and we don’t think you’re involved now.”

“Then why are we talking?”

“I want you to put that sniper to use. My boys say you have pretty good aim as of yesterday and I need someone taken out. Someone involved with Joel’s death. You’ll be paid of course and there’s a bonus in it for you if you do it in the next few days. Sound good?” Burnie asked.

It took a moment for Ray to decide. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be involved in this shit. He didn’t know if he had it in him to kill someone, but the deciding factor was Joel. Ray owed him too much to not avenge his death.

“I’ll do it.”

“I knew you would, buddy. Now, I’ll text you the picture of the guy, locations he’s commonly seen at, and where he’s thought to live. Good luck, man.” At that the phone call ended. Ray received several text messages quickly after from someone listed on the phone as “Barbs.” Reading through the information Ray pocketed the phone and closed the door behind him. He figured it would be good to go follow the guy around for a little bit before carrying the sniper rifle with him. Ray was determined to do this job right and to make sure whoever this bastard was got what was coming to him.

\----------

Ray trailed the guy for two days and figured out the best time to do it. He heard the man talking with a friend about taking a lady friend on a date since he had come into money for helping out with a job. Ray assumed the job was Joel and it made Ray want to ruin that date in the best possible way. It helped that the restaurant the man said he was going to happened to be a perfect spot for Ray to set up on a building across the street. Ray knew the time and place he was going to do it which was good.

If only dealing with his dad was that easy.

Over the two days his father had only gotten angrier at Ray than usual. Apparently since Ray wasn’t stealing drugs because he was busy with the job and therefore his dad couldn’t steal from him, his dad decided to be more of a dick than usual. Ray didn’t care though. He could hold off his dad for a while and finish this job. After the job Ray hoped Burnie would give him another and Ray would be able to get the fuck away from his father. It was going to work out. For once in his life Ray felt optimistic.

Laying on top of the building across from a lovely restaurant, Ray tracked his target through his scope. He had a woman on his arm and unfortunately she was in the way of the shot. Ray would have to wait until they were in the restaurant sitting to take the shot. Once they were in the restaurant, a window seat thankfully as otherwise Ray would have had to wait for them leaving, Ray placed his finger on the trigger. He didn’t pull it just yet, but he was ready to go… ready to kill.

Taking a deep breath, Ray steeled himself to pull the trigger when he heard a sudden voice behind him.

“I didn’t kill Joel Heyman.”

Jumping, Ray accidentally pulled the trigger, missing the shot and shattering the window. There were screams and Ray frantically tried to find his target, praying that the voice behind him wouldn’t kill him first. Finding his target, Ray had to adjust as the target moved further into the restaurant. Finally getting a god line, Ray pulled the trigger, quickly reloaded, and pulled the trigger a second time. Looking through the scope, Ray saw the target bleeding out and stood up quickly.

The second Ray turned around he found himself facing off with Skull Mask. Pulling the gun up, Ray started to aim at the other, hoping to kill him even from this short distance without aiming, but his shot went way off as Skull Mask pushed the gun up and away from him. A fist connected with Ray’s gut and he crumpled. He let go of the gun in favor of clutching his gut and saw Skull Mask holding the rifle for a second before tossing it to the side.

Staring up, Ray could feel himself being observed as if he was some kind of experiment. Ray could feel the rage boiling inside of him, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to take this guy down with his fists. Just looking at his leather clad shoulders, Ray could tell there was muscle there that Ray himself didn’t have.

“I didn’t kill Joel Heyman,” Skull Mask repeated.

Ray glared up at the other before saying, “I saw you.”

Standing up quickly, Ray launched himself at Skull Mask. He got one punch in before he was knocked on his ass again by a sucker punch. Coughing and groaning in pain, Ray stared at Skull Mask. That was it. Ray was going to die. Maybe it was karma for killing another man. What a way to go.

Looking up at what Ray was sure was his death, Ray was surprised to see the other man in front of him just shake his head before turning away and disappearing off the roof.

A sigh left Ray’s lips. He was relieved to still be alive, but at the same time pissed that he hadn’t been powerful enough to take Skull Mask down. At that point, though, all Ray wanted to do was lay on the roof until the pain radiating in his gut finally went away. He could hear sirens in the distance though and knew he needed to get lost before someone started looking for the sniper. Moving to his gun, Ray took it apart and stored it in his case before disappearing into the night himself.

\----------

When Ray got back to his apartment he spotted another yellow envelope outside the door. There was ringing coming from it as Ray stepped up to it and he sighed before picking it up and pulling out the phone.

“Good job, buddy. A little messy I was told, but you got the job done and didn’t get caught. As promised you got paid… There’s information of a back account and an atm card in the envelope. It holds your payment and you’ll be able to go online to see how much you got. I gave you a little extra since it was done fast,” Burnie said, not even waiting for Ray to say hello.

“Cool. I’ve got a question about Joel though. When I was with him before he… yeah. There was a guy outside. He wears a leather jacket and a black skull mask all the time. I think he’s a mercenary and I’m pretty sure he’s involved,” Ray explained quickly.

“A skull mask? That’s got to be the Vagabond. And I can tell yo- Shit! Barbs get down! Fuck where’s our goddamn guns? What happened to the fucking guards? Fuck. Ray you’re on your own. I’ll contact you if I have another gig for you!”

“What’s going on? Who’s attacking you? Burnie?”

The only answer Ray got was the sound of a dead line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did the Vagabond kill Joel? Did he not? Will he kill Ray? Who knoooooooows?


	4. Blackout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow things get shittier.

It was funny going from killing your first man to being pretty sure that any second someone was going to show up and kill you. Ray was in that state. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Skull Mask, or Vagabond, had come up in the conversation right before Burnie got attacked. For some reason the Vagabond was targeting him and Ray was pretty sure that he would die if the Vagabond wanted him to. After all he had killed Joel easily and it’d been a whole day and despite Ray’s calls back to Burnie he got no answer. In fact the last time Ray had called the number he’d gotten the automated message of a disconnected line. The only place Ray hadn’t looked was the club he met Joel at a lot and Ray hadn’t gone there because he’d over heard his dad’s friend talking about a club that sounded similar to it getting shot up.

Someone was coming after Joel’s gang and Ray had been caught up in it just in time to get a target painted on his back.

Ray refused to leave the apartment. He used one of the only blankets he had to cover up his window so a sniper wouldn’t be able to see where he was. Maybe it was paranoid and maybe it was presumptuous of Ray to assume that someone was coming after him. Ray didn’t care about that though. He would be as paranoid as it took to keep himself safe. Joel had been paranoid and well Ray saw where that went.

It was also good that Ray had been able to hide his sniper rifle. He’d woken up to his dad rifling through his things the night before. He was sure his rifle would get sold for drugs if it was found. Ray would rather die than give up his sniper. Ray refused to.

It was frustrating not going out though. Ray wanted to smoke and wanted to see how much money he’d been given from the job, but that required leaving the house and Ray didn’t want to risk it. Though, it was becoming more and more obvious that his father wasn’t going to just let him do that for much longer. His father was getting more and more pissed off about his lack of drugs and kept going on rants about how Ray wasn’t helping to provide for the house and how he should just kick Ray’s ass out of the house.

Ray was hoping his father wouldn’t, but once again his hopes went unanswered.

“You don’t do shit for helping out this house. At least you used to show up here with money or drugs like a useful kid, but now you do shit just like your puta mother,” Ray’s father shouted as he burst into Ray’s room.

Normally when his dad started in with shit, Ray would just let it go and ignore him, but he couldn’t let the comment on his mom slide. His mom had died so unfairly and he’d loved her so much. He knew she’d only stayed with his father to help keep Ray off the streets, to keep him from starving since she was too sick to take care of them. “You can’t say that about her,” Ray snapped as he stood up, hands balled into fists.

“I can say whatever I want, it’s my house.”

“Then I won’t listen to it. If you’re going to disgrace a woman who deserved so much more than you, I’m not fucking interested,” Ray growled. Normally he wasn’t as aggressive, but his father just brought it out in him.

Ray barely even saw the hand coming, but he certainly felt the punch to his gut. It hurt even worse since the Vagabond had punched him the day before. Clutching his middle, Ray glared up at his dad before spitting out, “You’re a fucking coward. You just fucking prey on people weaker than you because you’re too fucking scared to go anywhere in life.”

It was a bad idea to provoke his dad, but fuck Ray was just so much angrier than he’d been in a long time. His mom was dead because his father only gave a crap about himself. Joel was gone because of the shit city they lived in. Ray didn’t know what to do. The only two people that Ray had cared about and had been cared for by were gone. Maybe Ray was being so bold and abandoning his morals because he had nothing left to lose. He felt like he was backed into a corner and had no option other than to lash out at those left nearby.

A punch to the head made Ray see stars. His dad might have been an unhealthy drug addict, but he ate well enough and was built well enough that he packed a strong punch. Ray was sure that his father was saying some insult to him, but he wasn’t listening anymore. He was just paying attention to the pain in his body and the rage coursing through him.

Letting out a growl, Ray tackled his father and started punching. It wasn’t doing much, but it was making Ray feel good to actually retaliate and be able to do something. To feel even a little bit of power. It was like when he’d killed that man.

The feeling didn’t last long.

Ray’s father flipped their situation quickly and started slugging Ray in the face, the chest, anywhere his meaty fists could reach. Ray groaned in pain and weakly tried to defend himself, but there was so much pain that Ray almost couldn’t move. Ray twisted and turned, trying to get away from his father so the pain would stop and Ray could just rest. All Ray managed to do was twist around so he was on his stomach instead of his back. He was starting to crawl away when a hand attached itself to his hair. Ray saw stars as his father slammed his head into the ground. Laying limply, Ray’s vision went black before coming back for a second. He felt like he was going to be sick.

“I should just kill your useless ass now,” Ray’s father growled, getting up and walking around from Ray. It sounded like he was in the kitchen looking through the drawers.

Using the wall to crawl to his feet, Ray started towards the door. He wanted to get out and away from his father. He wasn’t staying anymore. Ray had to leave. So focused on the idea of leaving, Ray didn’t hear his dad coming up on him, but he did feel the hand in his hair pulling him towards the door. The door was pulled open and Ray felt a sharp pain in his gut. Looking down, Ray saw a kitchen knife in his side. A cold feel crept over him as he was pushed out the door by his father, the knife lodged in his side. It hurt. It hurt more than anything Ray had ever felt before.

Ray was scared. He was going to die and he was scared. Laying on the ground, unable to move, Ray groaned and put his hand around the knife, trying to keep the blood from coming out too much. He just needed to get some help and he’d be okay.

Blinking slowly, Ray felt his head swimming. He couldn’t focus and he felt like he was going to slip away into darkness at any moment. Looking around, Ray saw a familiar leather jacket and let out a cold laugh.

“What… if you’re here to kill me you’re too damn late,” Ray muttered before the world faded to black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Ray die? Will this story ever have actual shipping for more than the five seconds it was Joelay? Who knows? Find out next chapter maybe?


	5. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why do people do the things they do? Money? Power? Most would say love, but all that did was make Ray laugh.

Ray woke up to concrete walls and a headache that made him want to puke. In fact, the second the thought of puking popped into Ray’s head and he to sit up to try and quell the nausea. A bucket was suddenly shoved into his arms and Ray puked into it. Once he was done, he wiped his mouth with his arm and licked his lips. His mouth felt like sand paper and he didn’t know where he was. Moving to get up off the bed he was sitting on, Ray was pulled back by his wrist. It was handcuffed to the metal of the bed.

“You shouldn’t move too much. Here’s some water,” an unfamiliar man said holding out a cup to Ray.

Taking the cup, Ray stared at the water and sniffed it a little. He wasn’t sure it was safe. It didn’t smell or look funny, but Ray wasn’t keen to trust someone he didn’t know. After a moment of thought, Ray tilted the cup back and chugged the water. He wanted to get the taste of his own bile out of his mouth and relieve his aching throat.

With the taste of his mouth, Ray felt like he could actually think about things and try to piece everything together. The last thing he remembered was arguing with his dad before physically fighting him. The Vagabond had shown up at some point and Ray thought he was dying. Feeling his side, Ray felt bandages wrapped around him, probably for the stab wound he’d taken.

The man took the cup from Ray before saying, “My name is Caleb. I’m a doctor at a local hospital. People pay me to fix them up without questions asked. Mr… uh… Vagabond asked me to help you. From looking you over you seem to have a concussion, but not one you won’t recover from. The real danger lies from the wound in your side. It narrowly missed organs, though I don’t know how with how skinny you are. There’s still a chance of infection and internal bleeding and all of that. Mr. Vagabond has asked for me to come back in a couple days to check on you again. If you don’t move around too much and keep the wound clean, you should be fine… Though it doesn’t seem your friend is going to give you much of a choice as to whether you’ll be walking around.”

The sound of a door opening reached Ray’s ears and he spotted it on the stairs. He was probably in some sort of basement.

“Speak of the devil, here he is. Mr. Vagabond I was just explaining to your friend his condition. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll take my leave,” Caleb said, though he didn’t actually move towards the door at all.

The Vagabond looked at the other for a moment before reaching in his pocket of the (stupid) leather jacket and pulling out a wad of cash.

Ray’s eyes grew big as he watched Caleb take the money, look at it, and then pocket it himself. “A pleasure doing business with you as usual,” Caleb remarked before walking past the Vagabond and up the stairs.

Great, there went the only person in the room Ray didn’t think wanted to murder him. Though it was odd. If the Vagabond wanted him dead, why didn’t he just let Ray bleed out on his doorstep. It would have been easy. Maybe the asshole thought Ray had information on Joel’s gang. Even if Ray did there was no way he’d say shit about it. Glaring at the masked man, Ray found his anger outweighed his fear of speaking to people in high stress situations.

“Real nice fucking set up here, freak. You going to torture me in this torture chamber you’ve got going on or is your plan to just bore me to death by standing there and not saying anything?” Ray snapped at the other, sarcasm leaking in his voice.

There was no response for a second and Ray almost felt like he had caught the other man by surprise especially when the Vagabond muttered, “I saved your life.”

“What do you want an award for it? Don’t expect any thanks from me after what you did to Joel,” Ray growled. It was weird hearing his own voice say these things so spitefully. Ray normally was a calm person, but hey, getting stabbed by your father changes a guy.

Silence permeated the area. It was thick with tension as the Vagabond seemed unwilling to speak and Ray was content with boring holes into his skull from across the room. It was Ray who broke their staring contest by turning away from the man. Just because Ray was putting on an angry and brave face didn’t mean he wasn’t scared. He thought he had nothing left to lose when he attacked his father, but in reality, Ray was scared to die. He had nothing going for him and no one who cared about him, but Ray was clinging to life anyway. Maybe he was a coward for clinging to life.

A sigh left the Vagabond before he said, “I didn’t kill Joel Heyman. I was working for him.”

Ray didn’t look up. He went to cross his arms, but was unable to as the clanging of the handcuff reminded him. Ray didn’t want to hear lies from this man.

“Caleb told me you shouldn’t move. I thought you would run away or attack me if I didn’t chain you down,” the Vagabond said, actually sounding a little awkward. Ray looked at him from his peripherals and saw the Vagabond actually rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “If you uh… promise not to hurt yourself or make me hurt you then I can unchain you. You should stay here though… The man who you were living with is out for your blood it seems and if your wound gets infected I can call Caleb for you.”

“Why do you care?” Ray had to ask. As much as he didn’t want to talk to this man and as much as he still believed he was talking to Joel’s murderer, Ray wanted to know why the Vagabond was helping him.

The Vagabond stayed silent for a moment before saying, “I can’t tell you.”

A sharp, bitter laugh left Ray’s mouth and he looked away again before saying, “Of course not.”

“I guess I’ll just… leave you here then. You obviously aren’t capable of taking care of yourself even when given a weapon to do so,” the Vagabond said, his voice returning to the monotone from earlier.

Ray actually flinched at that though. Thinking about the words, Ray didn’t notice the Vagabond leave, but he knew the man was right. Ray was incapable. Incapable of taking care of himself. Incapable of protecting the people he loved.

Incapable should have been Ray’s middle name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So to be honest I wrote this chapter like a month ago or something so when I wrote the chapter title and the summary I had to reread the chapter cause I honestly forgot what had happened. My bad- 
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoyed it. Don't worry Ray will have more fun times with self-depreciating thoughts real soon. :D


	6. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being alone was better than being cared about. Especially since everyone Ray cared about died.

Who knew being chained to a wall would be so boring? Well, now Ray knew that it sucked a lot. He really wanted to get up and walk around, but at the same time some basic part of himself knew why he was chained down. Just shifting and moving around on the bed hurt his wound and his head was still pounding. Still, Ray was starting to get restless.

Staring at the same ceiling for hours on end gave Ray much more time to sit and think that he had ever wanted. It made him start to think about how his mom might still be alive if she hadn’t used all her money to keep him fed and how she would have been able to get better treatment if his father hadn’t stolen all her money to buy drugs and pay off gambling debts. Ray never thought he was a momma’s boy because his mother had died so long ago, but he really did miss her. He missed back in the time when he didn’t have to worry about food or whether or not the man who chained him to a bed was going to do horrible things to him before killing him.

The man who had chained him was confusing. The Vagabond, probably one of the most feared men in the entire city. Ray by all rights should have already been dead since he kept trying to attack the Vagabond over Joel. Being kept alive and giving medical attention by a man known to kill for sport didn’t make any sense.

The Vagabond had said he didn’t kill Joel. Ray didn’t want to believe it because he’d seen the other leaving the scene of the crime, but the more Ray sat there and thought about things it didn’t make sense for the Vagabond to be the one coming after Joel’s gang. After all, Ray was getting in the way of it and had even accepted a job from them. By all rights, Ray should have been dead.

That left the question of, who did kill Joel?

Ray stared up at the ceiling and blinked slowly. He was tired of thinking so much. He was tired of dealing with life. He just wanted to rest, but he couldn’t because if he fell asleep he would miss his chance to get answers and Ray needed answers. The Vagabond might not have been the one to kill Joel, but he certainly seemed to know more about what happened than he had said. Ray wanted to avenge Joel and if that meant kissing up to the man who had chained him to a bed, Ray would. Ray felt like he owed it to Joel and he owed it to his mom to continue living and continue fighting because she gave her life to let him live. Ray would fight until he couldn’t anymore.

The door to the stairs opened suddenly and Ray watched the Vagabond as he walked down the stairs with what seemed like a plate in his hand. Watching the other man, Ray huddled against the wall. He may have reached the conclusion that the Vagabond wasn’t Joel’s killer, but that didn’t mean Ray trusted the man. Ray knew first hand that the man was a killer. Though, Ray didn’t have a right to judge the Vagabond on that; Ray had killed too.

Glaring at the man, Ray was ready to swing his unchained hand the second an aggressive action was taken. Sure, the man was probably a lot stronger than him and could probably kill him with his bare hands, but that didn’t mean Ray would go down without a fight. Ray was surprised when the other just held out the plate to him without a word. Watching the other for a moment, Ray noticed that even if he pulled on the chain as far as he could he wouldn’t be able to touch anything but the plate. The Vagabond was being careful to. That had to mean something, right? Maybe Ray seemed more dangerous than he felt he was. That would be good. Reaching out, Ray grabbed the plate and pulled it back quickly. He looked through every piece of the sandwich to inspect it for any obvious signs something was wrong with it. Ray even went as far as to sniff it. He was paranoid.

After determining that the sandwich wasn’t going to kill him and listening to his stomach growl and gurgle, Ray took a bite out of it. It was good and it felt like Ray hadn’t eaten in days… which to be fair he pretty much hadn’t. Ray forced himself to chew slowly though. He didn’t want to make himself sick scarfing down the sandwich. He also wanted to keep an eye on the Vagabond while he ate the food.

The Vagabond gave nothing away though. Ray couldn’t tell what he was thinking or doing at all. After a moment Ray set the plate in his lap and looked up at the Vagabond before saying, “I believe that you didn’t kill Joel, but I want to know what you know about his death.”

There was silence and Ray almost expected the Vagabond to ignore his question.

“I don’t want to keep you chained like an animal. If you promise to not attack me every time I come bring you food then I’ll let you go,” the Vagabond said quietly. “We can treat that as a trust test. If you make it through without making me regret letting you free to walk around I’ll consider telling you what I know.”

Ray glared at the other for a minute before taking another bite of the sandwich. It was to stall so Ray could think a little bit. He would be let go, but that wasn’t a promise of information. Not that it mattered. Ray would just wait for an opportunity to sneak out of the basement and go through the Vagabond’s things once he was released and then Ray would be free to run off and spend Burnie’s money however he wanted to. It was a win-win situation for Ray.

“Deal.”

\----------

Biding his time was something Ray excelled in. He knew how to be patient and wait when he needed to. Granted at that moment, Ray didn’t want to wait, but he understood that until his injury healed up he wouldn’t be able to escape as easily. Plus, Ray was sure there were safety nets in place to ensure he couldn’t escape. Ray hoped they would be let down slowly but surely as he continued to be a good boy and play captive as though he wasn’t going to do anything in the world to escape. It helped that Ray had an innocent face.

It also helped that Ray could tell it was working. Whenever the Vagabond went down to talk to Ray, he called the other ‘kid’ more often than not. That was good. It meant that Ray was seen as younger or more innocent. It meant that when Ray made his move it would be more of a surprise. It meant that Ray would succeed in getting out.

Shortly after being brought what the Vagabond said was dinner, Ray walked up the stairs and listened at them closely. It’d been a week of being down there and Ray had no more information on what happened to Joel and who was out there after his gang or even why the Vagabond was keeping him prisoner. All Ray got in response to his questions was silence and it was starting to get on his nerves. It wasn’t like Ray talked a lot, but getting something, anything would have been preferable to the silence he received instead.

In short, Ray was getting antsy and wanted to get out and find some information. He could hear the Vagabond walking around for a little while, but eventually the activity died down and Ray heard nothing. The best case scenario was that the Vagabond had a job and wasn’t in the building anymore and the worse was that the Vagabond had settled down somewhere in the house and was very much awake and alert. Ray hoped that if he did get caught he’d just get thrown back down stairs and not killed on sight. It was a foolish hope in Ray’s mind, but that didn’t stop it.

Ray had discovered in his week being held captive the Vagabond hadn’t searched him or hadn’t searched him very well. The two bobby pins that Ray kept tucked up in his hair for sneaking into his house were still there. Pulling them out of his wild hair, Ray set to picking the lock that kept him from his freedom. It took a little while since Ray hadn't picked a lock other than his own apartment’s, but he unlocked the door eventually. Pushing the door open quietly, Ray peered around the corner. There were no lights on and Ray didn’t see anyone walking around.

Stepping out of the basement, Ray was surprised to find himself in what looked like an uninhabited house. Maybe the Vagabond lived there, but there were no pictures on the walls or any clutter anywhere. The place looked like it hadn’t been lived in before, but that didn’t make sense if the Vagabond had been feeding him three times a day. The Vagabond wouldn’t be making special trips. Though, Ray wasn’t really sure what he actually expected from the Vagabond’s home. Having personal effects would be dangerous if one made enemies. It didn’t matter though. All Ray cared about was going through the Vagabond’s things and then escaping the house entirely.

Looking around and keeping his steps quiet, Ray concluded that the Vagabond wasn’t in the house. Straightening up a little bit from his crouched sneaking position, Ray started up a set of stairs to the second floor of the house. Up there, Ray looked around and found most rooms completely void of furniture or anything else. That was until he found a bedroom. Entering the bedroom cautiously, Ray looked around before moving in farther. Against a desk laid a silvery case that Ray instantly recognized. The sniper rifle Joel had given him was sitting there. That meant the Vagabond had found its hiding spot, but it was okay. The back card that Burnie had given Ray was in that case. It meant Ray didn’t have to go back to his apartment at all.

The desk seemed just as empty as the rest of the house, but after poking around it for a bit, Ray found a false bottom in every drawer. Opening all of them, Ray started looking through the papers quickly. Most were notes about jobs the Vagabond had taken, one noting a job that day which meant Ray had a good amount of time to search around without worry. After a while of digging, Ray was pretty sure he wasn’t going to find anything until he found a folder with “Cock Bites” scrawled across the top. That was the name of Joel’s gang.

Opening the folder, Ray looked through and was able to get a suspected name on who was coming after Joel’s gang and who the Vagabond suspected pulled the trigger on Joel. Ray was ready to take what was there and just leave when he saw a letter with his name in it. Scanning over it, Ray wasn’t all that interested until he saw “Caboose” written on the end as signature. That meant Joel had written this letter.

“Vagabond, the Cock Bites are coming into trouble. I can’t give you any details about it in this letter. I don’t know if it will get intercepted by someone, but I know Burnie hired you to look into things and help keep our heads above water. I know you’re good enough to do more than just that for now. There’s this kid Ray Narvaez Jr. He’s an associate, but he’s not in this life. I want to keep him out of it. Church was able to just tell his girl to stay low, but this kid doesn’t know how in deep he is by being associated with me. I’ll hire you to protect him. I know you’re good at doing things without being seen. Follow him when he goes out, keep tabs on his place, whatever you need to do to keep him safe. Don’t let him see you though. He’s an alright kid and I don’t want him dragged down with me. I’ll pay you for four months of protection and go from there if that money runs out. He stays alive and relatively healthy and I’ll give you a fucking bonus. -Caboose.”

That explained why the Vagabond had showed up those times and why Ray had felt like someone was following him for weeks. How much had Joel paid for Ray’s protection? And shouldn’t Ray be pissed that Joel thought he needed a babysitter? Ray wasn’t though. He couldn’t be mad at Joel for trying to help him. In reality it just made Ray sad. Joel was dead and gone because his guards had failed. Maybe if Joel had hired the Vagabond to protect himself he would have been alive. It didn’t make sense. Joel wasn’t some selfless good man, Ray knew that. Joel was a selfish money obsessed asshole, but he’d spent money to keep Ray around. It almost hurt. Ray had assumed that no one gave a fuck about him after his mom died, but Joel did. Joel had. Joel was dead though and the only reason the Vagabond had given him medical attention was because of Joel. That didn’t make sense though, why was the Vagabond still protecting him even though Joel was dead?

It gave Ray the idea that the Vagabond had some sort of code or honor system that meant he would continue with a mission paid for by a dead man. It changed Ray’s view of the Vagabond as a heartless monster who just wanted to get rich. It didn’t make sense.

Taking out a marker from the desk, Ray set the letter on the desk and wrote across Joel’s words, anger and confusion burning inside him. Ray didn’t understand and he was pissed that he was being watched after like a child. He was pissed that Joel had cared enough to hire someone like the Vagabond to protect him and was gone. Ray hated that Joel never told him how he cared. It felt like Ray had been robbed of yet another person in his life. Someone taking too soon and leaving him alone, again.

Ignoring the water threatening to leak from his eyes, Ray snatched up the file and his case before turning around and leaving. He wouldn’t turn back and he hoped the Vagabond would heed the words he had left for him.

“Leave me the FUCK alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Ryan leave Ray alone? Will I get to shipping before Ray shoots Ryan? Will Ray shoot Ryan at all? I honestly don't know at this point.


	7. Sharp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doesn't it really suck when you assume someone's dead and then they hold a gun to your head?

Two years later and Ryan still found himself thinking about Narvaez and Heyman from time to time. It was a shame that the Cock Bites had been destroyed and Ryan could only hope that some of them had made it out alive and were hiding. There was a rumor of one of the original members having started a new gang, but Ryan wasn’t sure about that.

Ray Narvaez Jr. on the other hand just made Ryan feel guilty. He had seen firsthand how the kid couldn’t fight well and he’d only just started learning how to snipe when Ryan had run across him. When Ryan took him, and forced him to stay in the basement, well Ryan had hoped to earn the kid’s trust and help teach him how to survive. Maybe keeping Ray in a creepy murder basement wasn’t the best idea, but Ryan was never very good with people.

The biggest worry on Ryan’s mind was if someone decided that due to Ray’s affiliation with Joel, he needed to die with the rest of Joel’s crew.

Well, maybe the biggest worry on Ryan’s mind was surviving in that hellhole of a city as a mercenary. Having no gang to back him up was dangerous, but Ryan really preferred working on his own. Though at that moment, Ryan was cursing himself for not sucking it up and joining a crew. He’d killed a very important person in a gang and now they were back with a vengeance. Being pinned down with no back up really fucking sucked.

At least Ryan hadn’t been walking around without his mask or face paint on.

The popping of the guns near him caused Ryan to flinch. There were four of them and only one of him. The odds of survival weren’t good and if the four were smart in any sense of the word, they would flank him in a matter of minutes.

Ah, speak of the devil there was one of the four coming around the corner while gun fire prevented Ryan from escaping or being able to get accurate aim. As the woman lifted her gun to shoot at Ryan, he prepared to dive to the ground and attempt to roll out of the line of fire. Just as Ryan was about to spring, the woman’s head exploded in a mess of gore.

“Three-sixty no scope!” Ryan heard come from the building beside him. Looking at the doorway, Ryan spotted a familiar figure carrying a gaudy pink sniper rifle. Ryan was a little shocked that the man hadn’t hit him with that shot. Staring openly at the man Ryan had honestly believed to be dead, Ryan didn’t miss the harsh gaze that came his way.

Ray slung the sniper rifle back over his shoulder and pulled a pistol from his waistline. As the gun fire stopped for a moment, Ryan watched as Ray leaned out around the corner and fired three shots before fully stepping out from behind the doorway.

Looking around his cover, Ryan saw the three remaining men dead on the ground. Behind him Ryan heard Ray say, “Yeah Vav their down. Told you I didn’t need any help. You can tell the others to get their panties out of a bunch. I’ll bring the package back now.”

As the confusion of seeing the other faded, Ryan went to lift his gun and keep Ray from moving went a stinging sensation near his hand caused him to drop the gun. Ray had shot the gun out of his hand and now had his own pistol trained on Ryan’s chest.

“I’ll warn you _Vagabond_ , I don’t miss,” Ray snapped coldly.

Ryan didn’t understand what was going on. He had searched for the kid for months to find a trace of him and found absolutely nothing. That was why he’d assumed the kid to be dead. Ryan found himself glad that his mask was on for his confusion didn’t show. Though, there was also an edge of nerves to it. Maybe this was Ray’s way of getting revenge, but then again Ray had said that he secured the package. Was Ryan the package?

Ryan was drawn out of his thoughts as the pistol trained on him gestured to the right.

“Get in the car,” Ray said, lacking even an ounce of emotion. He pulled out a keychain with two keys and pressed a button, unlocking the car that Ryan then noticed to the right.

Nodding lightly, Ryan tried to think of what he wanted to do. If he got close to the car there was a fair chance he could roll under it and run. He was wearing body armor so if Ray shot at his chest Ryan would get a chance to run. It sounded like a good plan, but Ryan realized that is he did that he wouldn’t get any answers. He wanted to know what happened to Ray and if he had any information on the Cock Bites.

Walking slowly to the car with his hands in the air, Ryan opened the back door to the car and got in quietly. He closed the door at another gesture made by Ray. The door was locked once again by Ray’s button. Testing the door, Ryan could see that it wouldn’t unlock unless Ray hit the button in the car or on the keychain. With a sigh, Ryan watched Ray put his gun away before collecting Ryan’s and returning to the car.

The car looked like it was a remodeled police car, designed to hold people. The windows were heavily tinted and Ryan saw what looked like dried flecks of blood on the seat. It was easy to draw the conclusion that the car was used to haul people to and from locations and well, probably for torture or killing somewhere more remote.

That thought didn’t bother Ryan. What did bother Ryan was the card attached to the sun visor. It had a duck in green looking as though it had been spray painted surrounded by all black. Ryan would have been shocked it someone in the city didn’t know what that symbol meant.

After all, the Fake AH Crew basically owned the city.

Ray entered the car and Ryan silently prayed that he hadn’t accidentally done something to piss off the Fakes.

\---------

It was only a short drive to downtown and into a shady parking lot that, despite being in the middle of the city, was deserted. Looking around, Ryan spotted four other people in the lot with a variety of different expressions.

The car was stopped and Ray got out quickly, slamming the door shut. “I brought him, now what?”

Apparently, Ray’s question was just getting ignored as a man in a suit and covered in tattoos walked over and unlocked the doors to the car before opening Ryan’s.

“Hello, Vagabond, it’s nice to meet you. Or do you prefer Ryan? Never know what people want. Code names real names it’s hard as dicks to remember it all,” the man said before shrugging. At the voice and being able to see the man more clearly, Ryan easily recognized him as Geoff Ramsey, leader of the Fakes.

Exiting the car, Ryan looked at all of them. Gavin Free was the only other one Ryan recognized, but it was no surprise. Those two were the only known ones of the Fakes. The public and criminal world knew the others by code names and vague descriptions of what they looked like, but nothing else.

It was at that point that it clicked for Ryan who exactly Ray was. BrownMan was known for being the best damn sharp shooter in the entire city. Rumors said that he never missed and that the only way to recognize him was through a purple hoodie paired with a pink sniper rifle.

Looking at the others, Ryan was easily able to recognize Mogar by his brown jacket and Pattillo by her stark red hair.  Turning back to Geoff, Ryan decided to fall back on his typical defense mechanism while wearing his mask. Just tilting his head slightly, Ryan remained completely silent. Typically, it would unnerve people enough for Ryan to retain power in a conversation, but Geoff started laughing and slammed the car door shut.

“You’re right Ray, he is a creepy motherfucker.” Geoff seemed far too relaxed in the face of Ryan and Ryan would have been lying if he didn’t say it annoyed him.

Standing still and looking at all of the Fakes in turn, Ryan’s head snapped back to Geoff when he started speaking again, “Well creepiness aside, I’ve got an offer for you Vagabond. Ray says that you were a friend of Joel Heyman and well we’ll say part time employed by the Cock Bites. We’ve been keeping tabs on you for a while and see that you’re still looking into what happened to them.”

If Ryan thought he was glad he had his mask on earlier, he was ready to give someone head to thank them for him still having his mask on. He was certain his face had gone white and he froze for a second. That second didn’t last long though as Ryan pulled a knife out of his pocket and prepared to lunge at Geoff. If he claimed Geoff as a hostage he’d surely get out of there alive.

Just as Ryan went to jump Geoff, a sharp pain and a force caused Ryan’s knife to fly out of his hand. Looking up to see what happened, Ryan spotted Ray with his gun trained on Ryan again, looking all too pleased with himself for shooting yet another weapon out of Ryan’s hand.

“Whoa there big guy, we’re not here to kill you or anything. Though if you pull a move like that again we’ll have to shoot you and dump you into something. A dumpster maybe just for shits and giggles,” Geoff said, sounding far too nonchalant for threating Ryan’s life.

“What do you want then?” Ryan asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Geoff crossed his arms with a grin before saying, “I’d like to offer you a job.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Basically I lost motivation for this fic and was having a hard time writing anything I was even remotely satisfied with, but I like this chapter and I hope you guys do to.


	8. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of school is always the worst.

_“I’d like to offer you a job._ ” The words sounded fake to Ryan’s ears. He knew of the Fakes, most people thought they were going to take the city and claim it. They didn’t seem to have a gap in their team or need anyone else, but if they wanted him on their team- Wait that wasn’t a job offer, at least not a permanent one.

Ryan was a mercenary; it made sense that they would want to hire him for a quick job. Maybe someone beneath their own hand, but enough that it warranted a reaction.

If that was true though, why did the offer sound like so much more than a one-time job?

“Where are you going?” Ryan was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Ray walking away from the group. Looking around, Ryan could see that it was Geoff who spoke.

Not even turning around, Ray replied, “Well, fake Geoff, since this is obviously a stupid idea, I’m going back to reality since real Geoff doesn’t make idiotic decisions.”

“Get back here,” Geoff snapped, not sounding angry, but frustrated.

Turning around, Ray glared at Geoff and replied, “I’m real sorry fake Geoff, but I have an appointment with the Keebler cookie elves before I go back to reality.”

Ryan suddenly got the feeling that the tension there was caused by him. After all it was pretty fucking obvious that Ray didn’t want to be anywhere near him and, well, being on a crew together would force them to work together fairly frequently. Suddenly, Ryan started a debate in his head as to whether he should decline or not.

The debate was interrupted though, as Ryan saw Geoff’s jaw clench and he snarled in a low, commanding tone, “Ray.”

Silence permeated the parking garage as the two stared each other down. Ryan wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but with the way Ray’s hand was twitching, Ryan feared he’d get caught in the middle of a gun fight. 

After a moment though, Ray relaxed and crossed his arms. He still looked defiant, but he made no more moves to leave.

No one spoke for a moment until a British voice piped up, “Geoffrey, how about us lads go up? You don’t need us to discuss him being a part of the crew. It’s already going to happen, innit? He’s going to say yes. Ray did his job.”

Ryan could clearly see Geoff thinking hard about it, but at the wave of his hand and a sigh, Ray walked over to the other young members of the crew and the three of them walked into a stairwell.

Turning back to Geoff, Ryan remained silent still, not sure if the tension was still there.

“Well, that was fun as dicks. Anyway, you’re welcome to stay here as much as you want to. We’ve got a room all set up for you and the rest of the crew lives in this building so we’re not too far away when we need to plan heists or make last minute changes to heists. Don’t worry about asking cuts and pay and shit because your last few jobs have been us so you know how much you’ll get as an official member. You’ll be a nice bit of muscle and maybe even a backup sniper, but mostly you’re going to help us scare the shit out of the city knowing the Vagabond’s a Fake,” Geoff said, not leaving Ryan a chance to speak.

“Oh and you’re going to help us take out the people who destroyed the Cock Bites, but we’ll talk about that later,” Geoff continued before turning around and starting to walk towards the stairwell the “lads” had disappeared into.

The woman with them walked up to Ryan and held out a hand. “I’m Jack, by the way. It’s nice to meet you Ryan. I know all of this is a lot to take in, but you’ll get used to it fast. We can go up to your room now if you’d like or I can give you a ride back to your place.”

Ryan shook her hand cautiously before clearing his throat and saying, “If you can take me home so I can get my things and then come back I’d appreciated it.”

A nod was the response he got and Ryan hoped that he was going to survive his time with the Fakes.

\---------

It only took one trip to get Ryan’s things upstairs. He didn’t have very much, just a bunch of weapons really. His weapons could stay in his car in the garage too. Ryan did, of course, take some of them upstairs, but he didn’t need all of them. Plus, if he had to run away from the Fakes fast, Ryan didn’t want to leave all his weapons behind.

Once Ryan was done setting up his room a little bit, he walked out into the living room of their little house. Looking around, he saw Geoff and Jack exchanging a hushed conversation that Ryan didn’t really want to interrupt.

To his left, Ryan saw Gavin and Michael (Jack had told him all their names) playing a game on the television while Ray sat next to them playing a pick DS. Deciding it would be better to stand near the Lads, Ryan watched them play their game silently.

After a moment though the game was paused and Michael looked over his shoulder with a scowl on his face. “What the fuck do you want?”

Ryan hadn’t expected to be met with such hostility, but from rumors the Lads were close to each other. It wasn’t that surprising that since Ray didn’t like his, they wouldn’t either.

Just shrugging, Ryan tried to stay silent and calm, hoping that would keep things from escalating. As Michael stood up to face him, Ryan realized that was the wrong move. The red head’s hands were balled into fists as he glared at Ryan, obviously ready to start something without a second thought.

Michael was pulled away from the idea of fighting Ryan by Ray speaking, “Michael, Gavin’s kicking your ass right now.”

Glancing at the couch, Ryan could tell that Gavin had stopped playing the game once Michael stood up given that the pause screen was up. It was enough to get Michael to back down though.

“Whatever,” Michael muttered huffily before sitting back down and picking up the controller.

Ryan shot Ray a thankful look, but was met with a cold, dead stare back. Turning away, Ryan walked over to the kitchen and saw Jack making coffee by herself. A cup was offered to him as Jack turned and looked at him.

“Sorry about them. They uh care about each other a lot and well Ray hasn’t really said much to Geoff or I, about what happened between you two, but he told Michael and Gav about it,” Jack spoke in a low, calm voice.

The words made Ryan shuffle a little bit. He wanted to take a sip of the coffee in his hands to steady himself when he remembered he had his mask on and couldn’t actually drink anything without taking it off. Feeling awkward about taking the coffee, but not drinking any of it, Ryan pulled up the bottom half of his mask, revealing the face paint that laid underneath. Sipping the coffee, Ryan hoped that he wouldn’t have to break the silence.

Jack let out a soft sigh and said, “To be honest it seems like a lot of the hostility Ray holds towards you is unwarranted, but I also don’t know who you were two years ago. It doesn’t really matter to me what happened in the past now that Ray’s safe with us. All I know,” Jack paused and her gaze turned sharp, “if you hurt any of my boys intentionally or otherwise I will not hesitate to feed you your testicles.”

It took all of Ryan’s self-control not to spit out his coffee at the words. A pit of fear settled into Ryan’s stomach. It seemed like everyone in the crew didn’t have an issue with killing him if he missteped. That didn’t bode well for him.

“Anyway, Geoff wanted to talk to you in his office. At 6 we’re having a planning meeting to set up our first heist with you,” Jack explained sounding much warmer than the moment before.

Ryan nodded slowly and set the coffee on the counter before pulling his mask down over his mouth. He walked back to Geoff’s office, hoping he wouldn’t run into anyone else who wanted to threaten him.

Entering Geoff’s office, Ryan almost wanted to ask the man if he planned on threatening him too. Instead he just crossed his arms and watched the man write in a notebook.

“Feel free to sit down, I just need to mark this down before I forget,” Geoff said, not even looking up.

Feeling that it would be rude to continue standing, Ryan sat down. A moment later Geoff looked up from the notebook and stared at Ryan for a moment. It almost felt like Geoff was seeing something more than the mercenary that Ryan was. Ryan would have liked to know what conclusions the man was getting.

A sigh left Geoff’s lips before he spoke again, “Buddy, things are gonna be hard for the first few weeks. Ray seems to hate you, Michael and Gavin don’t like him angry and Jack’s pretty protective herself. I care about my crew just as much as they do, but from my own investigations on what happened, I get there’s more to what happened between you and Ray than just Ray’s side. From what Burnie told me, Joel picked you up off the street and taught you how to survive in a city like this. Said that you left the Cock Bites to be a mercenary pretty shortly, but kept some contact with Joel.”

There was a pause as Geoff stared intensely at Ryan once more. “Ray says that you were hired by Joel to protect him and that Ray didn’t want your help. I doubt that’s all that happened, but I know that Joel cared about Ray and therefore you wanted to take care of him.”

After a moment, Ryan finally spoke, “When did you guys find Ray?”

“From what I know about 6 months after the Cock Bites were taken out. He was half starved and the only thing he had on him was that rifle. Didn’t use technology, only stuck to alleyways. It was like he was running from someone,” Geoff explained, his gaze turning harsher.

“Where you the one he was running from?”

Shaking his head, Ryan swallowed before responding, “I tried to keep tabs on him after he ran away, but I couldn’t find him so I kept tabs on his father. His father had gotten into some trouble with his bookies and some gang members. The man told them that Ray was the one with money. My best guess is that one of them found Ray and he had to run.”

Geoff nodded. Ryan wondered how much Geoff knew about Ray’s father. The only encounter Ryan had with the man was when he’d nearly killed Ray. Seeing the abuse almost made Ryan want to kill the man himself, but he didn’t want to enact his own justice.

A pained look crossed Geoff’s eyes before he quietly said, “Ray doesn’t talk about his family. I’ve asked the others if he’s said anything to them. He hasn’t. I get it. We’ve all got shit. Caleb says you hired him to patch the kid up and that he almost died on his operating table. But drudging up the past isn’t going to help any of us.”

“Why did you decide to hire me?” Ryan couldn’t help, but be curious.

“You’re good and if Joel and Burnie trusted you, I trust you. Plus, we’ve been watching you for a while. You’re good at the business,” Geoff responded simply before continuing, “Well enough of that shit. Got any other questions for me, buddy?” 

After a second of thought, Ryan asked, “What will be my role on the crew?”

A smile crossed Geoff’s face. “You’re good with a variety of guns and well good at torturing people. Right now the only one of us with the stomach for it is Ray, but he’s not great at it. Accidentally kills people too much. On the field, you’ll be muscle to back up me and Michael. Out of the field you’ll be on intimidation, torture and eventually guarding Gavin or Ray when they go on more specialized missions.”

Ryan nodded silently before standing up. “That’s all I wanted to know about.”

“Well buddy, welcome to the family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it took me so long to update I decided to do a double update this week. After today this fic should continue on with a weekly Thursday update. Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take a bullet for someone and suddenly everyone like you. What's a killer to do?

The whole “welcome to the family” thing was nice and all, but it would have been nicer had everyone in the “family” actually wanted Ryan there. The lads continued to glare (Michael), whisper about him (Gavin), and leave the room when he entered (Ray). It would have been hard to say that it didn’t make him feel incredibly awkward, but Ryan was just going to deal with it. After all, if he just stayed in the Vagabond persona the entire time then none of them would bother him. Hell, Gavin even seemed to be a little scared of him.

It was a strange adjustment period, but Ryan would survive it. Besides, he didn’t really plan on leaving anytime soon.

That was a weird thought, though. Ryan had been solo for so long and very happy with it, but then all of a sudden he was in a crew and not upset about it. Ryan tried to no think about it too much, but a part of him did rationalize that if Ray, as untrusting as he was, trusted the crew then Ryan probably could. Unless it was all an elaborate plot to get Ryan killed.

It was best not to think of things like that.

There were a few days of just fucking around before Geoff called a meeting and they went on their first heist.

\----------

“Alright assholes remember that getting the money out of the bank is just as important as getting the information off the computers. We don’t want anyone to figure out our true motives for robbing a smaller bank. GB stay with Mogar at all times. Vagabond, you’re with me. I’ll hold down hostages and you get the cash. Just like we planned guys,” Geoff commanded over the com system.

Ryan nodded to himself and readied for bursting into the bank, guns blazing. It was weird going on a heist where over half of the people he was working with hated him, but Ryan trusted that they were loyal enough to Geoff to not mess with him on a heist.

As Geoff signaled for them to enter the bank, Ryan surged forward, gun up, followed by Michael with a shotgun, Gavin with a pistol, and Geoff who shouted, “This is a heist! Get on the ground now!”

There was a flurry of activity as people dropped to the floor. Ryan watched the tellers and security guards to make sure none of them would try anything. Gavin popped the lock keeping the tellers on the other side of bullet proof glass and Ryan moved in and forced them to leave their safety.

Glancing back, Ryan confirmed that Geoff had his side of things under control before moving farther back with Gavin and Michael. Splitting off from the other two, Ryan opened their meager safe and started shoveling the money into the sack he had. On his way out of there he would probably hit the teller’s desks and grab more of the money. He wanted to make sure they got every little bit that way it would truly look like they were only there for an easy cash grab.

Ryan started to walk back to the front when he heard a weird noise. Turning the corner, Ryan stealthily followed the sound before looking into a room. In the room Ryan spotted Gavin standing with his hands up, a security guard’s gun trained on him. Michael wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Sir there’s no need to be so aggressive, I’m cooperating,” Gavin said in a low, calm tone. It was like watching someone speak to a rabid animal.

“I know you’re with the Fakes. You’ve been terrorizing the entire city and if I don’t shoot you, you’ll just escape or hurt other people!” The guard growled back.

It was easy to see that the guy was trying to work himself up to shoot. Yelling at the guy or making a sudden move would get Gavin shot, but doing nothing would get him shot too. Sighing to himself, Ryan lowered his gun so it was just resting at his side.

Stepping carefully into the room, Ryan spoke in a soft growl. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The guard’s eyes whipped to Ryan immediately and Ryan prayed that Gavin would take the chance to move.

“You’re- you’re the Vagabond,” the guard stuttered out, eyes wide with fear. The gun was quickly trained on Ryan, but he didn’t care. Gavin hastily finished up what he’d been doing with the computer and scrambled away from the guard. Ryan couldn’t tell if the younger had his gun on him anymore, but Ryan had done his job.

Cocking his head to the side, Ryan exuded confidence silently as he stared at the guard. He didn’t move, hoping that the guard would get scared enough to lower his weapon. As the guard’s grip on the weapon tightened, Ryan knew that wasn’t the case. That was okay, if Ryan just waited, Gavin would go get help or find a gun and shoot the guy before he shot Ryan.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan spotted Gavin holding a fire extinguisher and trying to sneak up on the guard. The Brit stumbled and made a soft noise, though. The guard started to turn around and Ryan made his decision. Lifting his gun up quickly, Ryan shot at the guard. Ryan was unable to see the guard fall over dead as the guard’s bullet slammed into his armored chest, knocking Ryan on his ass and removing all air from his lungs.

Taking quick shallow breaths, Ryan saw Gavin trying to help him to his feet while talking in the com. Slowly rising to his feet, Ryan put a hand on his chest and knew that it would be sore the next day. Michael quickly came back to the room and together the three went back to Geoff. There were questioning looks thrown at Ryan, but he ignored it.

“Cops in five,” Ray said over the com, sounding almost bored.

“Jack come up to the front, we’re done anyway. Ray take it slow so you don’t look suspicious,” Geoff commanded before signaling for them to all leave the bank.

Half running, half hobbling out, Ryan got into the back of the get-away car with Gavin and Michael, watching Geoff slide into the front.

As Jack sped away from the back, Ryan gently prodded at the hole in his shirt where the bullet had hit his armor. It hurt and Ryan really wanted to get the armor off of his chest, but refused to pull his shirt off in front of the rest, or to show the pain he was in.

“What the fuck happened?” Geoff’s yell brought Ryan back out of his thoughts.

“Well, Geoffrey, Michael saw someone in the back trying to alert the police and there wasn’t anyone near us so he left to deal with them. That bloody security guard came out of nowhere and was talking about how we’re the worst and need to be put down like dogs. Ryan got the guard distracted and saved my life! Bloody hell Rye I didn’t even know you had armor on. I thought you were dead,” Gavin explained, turning to Ryan with the friendliest look he’d given Ryan the entire time.

Ryan just shrugged and turned away. He couldn’t deny being a little touched that Gavin thought so much of him helping.

Nodding, Geoff responded, “We got the money and the information, so no harm done. Next time, use the fucking coms to tell everyone what’s going on. If someone’s guarding Gavin and needs to move let us know so we can shift and have someone else watching Gav’s back.”

There were grumbles of agreement from Gavin and Michael that made Ryan smile under his mask. The group was interesting and Ryan still didn’t know his place in it, but at the least it was interesting enough for Ryan to want to stick around.

\----------

Back at the penthouse everyone was celebrating. Those who drank were at the least tipsy if not completely trashed and Ryan was just standing in a corner watching it. It seemed like even Ray was enjoying the party as he chatted with Michael, a smirk on his face.

It was interesting to Ryan, seeing the younger then. Ray seemed different from before most of the time, but it was like every time Ryan spoke the other went directly back to who he was when they met. It made sense to regress when faced with someone from the past, but that didn’t stop Ryan from feeling a little hurt by it. He’d just been trying to help Ray and deal with the loss of his own friends. Joel, Burnie and the others… Ryan may have not been an official part of their crew, but they’d worked together enough that Ryan missed them. Besides they were the few groups Ryan had worked with that Ryan actually hung out with outside of jobs.

For Ryan, Ray was a reminder of them too, but Ryan also remembered hearing Joel ramble about his friend Ray and how fond the man seemed of the younger. Ryan knew that Joel really cared about Ray. Not in a love way, Ryan had been told that directly by Joel, but Joel had been more than happy with their friends with benefits relationship. It was nice to hear about.

“Are you going to join us?”

The words brought Ryan out of his thoughts and he found himself looking at Gavin. “What?”

“Come join us! It’s a party and you’re creepy enough with that bloody mask without adding lurking in the corner like a serial killer,” Gavin chirped with a grin.

Nodding slowly, Ryan found himself dragged over to the others and engaged in conversation. It seemed like Gavin had decided to trust him after Ryan saved his life. That was nice and gave Ryan a warm feeling. Though, it was hard to ignore the daggers that Ray was glaring into his back.

Later on Michael even came by and started talking to Ryan. It seemed like everyone in the crew decided that Ryan was to be trusted due to helping out with Gavin. It only getting Ray to stop hating him that was easy.

Eventually, Ryan was able to excuse himself from the four drunk crew members and went back to his room. He still hadn’t gotten his armor off and was getting a little desperate. Almost immediately after Ryan entered his room, he heard another person slam the door open.

Turning around, Ryan wasn’t surprised to find Ray standing there glaring at him.

“There’s nothing I can do to keep you from being in this crew or friends with the others, but I swear to any god out there, the second you step out of line, the minute you threaten this crew in any way at all, I will end you. You won’t see it coming and I won’t miss.”

With that Ray exited the room and Ryan was left wondering if he’d ever get the other to stop hating him.


End file.
